New Library Hours for Summer Semester

Michael Schwartz Library hours beginning Monday, June 4 through August 10, 2012

Monday - Thursday 7:30 a.m.- 9:00 p.m. (new closing time)
Friday 7:30 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Saturday 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.
Sunday CLOSED

Exceptional Days
Wednesday, July 4 Independence Day.......CLOSED

Visit http://library.csuohio.edu/information/hours.html for more information on the Library's hours.

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-05-30 15:29:56. Reply to Tracy_Kemp. Categories: Library News.

Bill Barrow, Cleveland Memory, Receive Recognition from the Society of Ohio Archivists

Bill Barrow, Special Collections Librarian at the Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University, was recognized for his work with the Cleveland Memory Project and Ohio's Heritage Northeast by the Society of Ohio Archivists at their annual conference on Friday, May 18, 2012.

Bill was one of two recipients of the SOA's merit award, which is annually presented to individuals or organizations that have "by excellence in deeds, actions, or initiatives improved the state of archives in Ohio over the past year." Angela O'Neal, Director of Collections Services for the Ohio Historical Society, was also recognized with a merit award for her outstanding service to the Society of Ohio Archivists and for promoting archives within Ohio.

At the 2012 SOA conference, Bill was presented with a plaque that reads:

William C. Barrow, Special Collections Librarian at Cleveland State University (CSU), is given this award in recognition of his efforts in founding and directing the Cleveland Memory and Ohio's Heritage Northeast Projects. Together with the hard work and dedication of numerous colleagues and volunteers, the projects have flourished and provided a rich portal of the area's heritage. Preceded by the Cleveland Digital Library, the Cleveland Memory Project features a trove of rich documentation that links an array of collections and subject topics from across the Cleveland metropolitan area. Through its leadership in this field regionally, the CSU Library has also provided the server for a broad Ohio's Heritage Northeast platform that links universities, colleges, and a number of public libraries with historical photographs.

For his on-going leadership of and involvement with these inspiring programs, it is fitting that the Society of Ohio Archivists presents Bill Barrow with a 2012 SOA Merit Award.

In his acceptance speech, Bill pointed out that the Cleveland Memory Project is highly collaborative and that he was accepting on behalf of the hundred-plus people who have contributed to its success since 2002, naming people in the Michael Schwartz Library and recognizing three contributors in the audience from area public libraries and non-profits who have helped to build Cleveland Memory.

"We form collaborations to build Cleveland Memory," Bill said, "but it is just as important to us that Cleveland Memory provides the opportunity to build collaborations in the NE Ohio region." Cleveland Memory, therefore, is one important way that Cleveland State University engages the community.

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-05-25 11:11:43. Reply to Lauren_Felder. Categories: Cleveland Memory, Library News.

Cleveland Memory Rewind: A Casino in Cleveland is Old News...

With the opening of the Horseshoe Casino Cleveland at 100 Public Square on May 14th, it is interesting to note that another downtown casino once had high hopes of cashing it big with Clevelanders and other area high-rollers. The Mayfair Casino, under the "personal direction of George Pomerantz" opened in 1935 in the Ohio Theatre. The Ohio Theatre was redecorated in an Art Deco style, and billed as "Cleveland's Million Dollar Theatre Restaurant", it boasted a main dining room, a "Sky Bar" and the "largest and most beautiful Cocktail Lounge in America."

Basically a supper club, the Mayfair Casino drew some of the largest musical acts in the country, and though "the owners hoped to turn the establishment into an actual casino," it closed the next year in 1936 due to the fact that gambling was not allowed in Ohio.¹ The Ohio Theatre then reopened in 1943 with its original decor as part of the Loew's movie chain.

See photos of the Mayfair Casino in Cleveland Memory.

¹Case Western Reserve University, "Ohio Theater," Encyclopedia of Cleveland History, http://ech.case.edu/ech-cgi/article.pl?id=OT.

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-05-04 09:12:01. Reply to Lauren_Felder. Categories: Cleveland Memory.

Exhibit--Shirley Graham: Citizen of the World

Engaged Student Research:
Shirley Graham: Citizen of the World
Exhibit in the Michael Schwartz Library
1st floor
Through May 31, 2012

It began as an assignment to introduce dramaturgical research to students in ENG 347/547: African American Women Playwrights. The play to be researched was I Gotta Home, by Shirley Graham (DuBois), performed in Cleveland by the Charles Gilpin Players at Eldred Hall in 1939. Work in our Special Collections led one student to Tom-Tom, an opera written by Graham in 1932 when she was a student at Oberlin College. Further research revealed that Tom-Tom was performed at Cleveland Stadium, with an audience of 20,000. Tom-Tom was the first opera written by an African American female and earned Graham critical acclaim, yet it was never performed again. Not surprisingly, "Whatever happened to Tom-Tom?" became a research question with broad implications.

This project has presented an opportunity for three student scholars to create an exhibit designed to demonstrate the potential of literature in service to broader learning, to impact an audience beyond the classroom. In so doing, their collective research shares Graham's legacy with the university community and educates the Cleveland community of its critical connections to a woman who left footprints around the world.

Professor Adrienne Gosselin
English Department

The exhibit, Shirley Graham: Citizen of the World, which includes books, posters, photos and other memorabilia related to Shirley Graham (DuBois), is open during regular Library hours.

Permanent link to this topic. Posted 2012-05-02 11:42:34. Reply to Barbara_Florjancic. Categories: Library News.